1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to stethoscope covers, and more particularly, to stethoscope covers which cover the head of a stethoscope.
2. Description of the Related Art
The stethoscope is a clinical, diagnostic instrument used to conduct, or transmit, sounds produced in a patient""s body to one or both ears of a clinician. Because of the diagnostic importance of the stethoscope, virtually every clinician has a stethoscope, and uses that same stethoscope throughout the day. For example, a clinician may use their stethoscope during examination of patients in a physician""s office, in a hospital clinic, in an emergency room, and while examining hospital in-patients. By using their stethoscope, the clinician is able to transmit respiratory, cardiac, plural, arterial, and other sounds to the ear(s) of the clinician, by applying the head of the stethoscope to the patient""s chest, back, abdomen, arms, and other areas. Depending upon the particular patient, any one or more of these areas may be secreting bodily fluids contaminated with infectious agents, including, for example, viruses such as the human immunodeficiency virus (xe2x80x9cHIVxe2x80x9d), resulting in the contamination of the stethoscope head. And, unless the clinician sterilizes their stethoscope between each patient examination, each subsequent patient""s skin would be contaminated with any infectious agents which may have been present on at least the prior patient, and more likely, an accumulation of infectious agents of all of the clinician""s preceding patients for the day.
In practice, however, the vast majority of medical personnel do not clean or sanitize their respective stethoscopes between examinations of different patients. Accordingly, while helpful and seemingly innocuous, in truth, stethoscopes end up transmitting any of a number of different infectious agents from one patient to another. And, as noted briefly above, depending upon the nature of the infectious agent, as well as the health-status of the various patients, an otherwise healthy patient may become sick, and in some cases a patient may even die as a result of the infectious agent or agents transferred via the contaminated head of the stethoscope.
The invention overcomes the drawbacks and limitations described above by providing a protective-sleeve cartridge which is mountable directly onto a stethoscope. In this fashion, a clinician does not have to return to a particular counter top or other location where a box of covers is stored, remove a single cover from the dispenser, and pull the cover up and over the head of the stethoscopexe2x80x94all of this needing to be done before seeing the next patient. Instead, because the protective sleeve cartridge is located on the stethoscope itself, it stays with the clinician at all times, thereby making it quick and easy for the clinician to have an unused protective sleeve portion covering the stethoscope head, each and every time the clinician examines a different patient.
In further detail, one aspect of the invention is directed to a combination of a stethoscope and a cartridge mounted to the stethoscope, with the cartridge including a sleeve. The cartridge is shaped and fabricated so that it easily may be mounted to a stethoscope, so that the combination of stethoscope and cartridge are comfortable for the clinician to wear and use, and so that the clinician easily may selectively and progressively lower an unused portion of the sleeve from the cartridge to the stethoscope head. The sleeve, itself, includes a plurality of longitudinally-spaced sleeve portions; and, if desired, the sleeve portions may be separated by perforations. Each sleeve portion has a leading end and a fastener at the leading end, whereby a clinician easily and quickly may adjust the leading end from an open position to a closed position, thereby further protecting the stethoscope head, and thus each patient, from cross-contamination. One such fastener is an adhesive.
Initially, the vast majority, if not all, of the sleeve is accordion-folded in the cartridge. In this fashion, a clinician simply pulls downward or outward on the outermost sleeve portion until an unused sleeve portion covers the stethoscope head, a movement which progressively moves an additional section of the accordion-folded sleeve from the cartridge.
If desired, the cartridge may include a first elongated circumferential sidewall, with the first elongated circumferential sidewall defining an interior space. Also, if desired, the first elongated circumferential sidewall may be a tube or may include a tube. In one version, the first elongated circumferential sidewall has a cross-sectional shape which is substantially oval. Also, when the cartridge includes a first elongated circumferential sidewall, at least a part of the sleeve may be positioned within the interior space of that circumferential sidewall. If desired, the cartridge may have a selectively-moveable cover at its first end, with the cover being moveable between an open position and a closed position. In this fashion, a clinician easily may adjust access to the interior space of the first elongated circumferential sidewall.
In addition, if desired, the cartridge may include a second elongated circumferential sidewall, inwardly spaced from the first elongated circumferential sidewall, with these first and second sidewalls defining between them a first interior space. When the second elongated circumferential sidewall is present, the sleeve, or a part of the sleeve, may be positioned within the first interior space. If desired, the second elongated circumferential sidewall may be releasably connected, either directly or indirectly, to the first elongated circumferential sidewall. Moreover, the first and second elongated circumferential sidewalls may be formed so that the connection is not only releasable, but also re-formable when the first and second circumferential sidewalls are disconnected.
If desired, the cartridge may have a fastener at its second end, with the fastener shaped and designed to fasten the cartridge to a stethoscope. The fastener may be, or may include, a cap, with the cap being releasably connected to the first- and/or second-elongated circumferential sidewall(s). The cap may include an opening and a circumferential surface defining the opening, with the circumferential surface being sized, shaped, and positioned to secure the cap to a stethoscope.
Another aspect of the invention is directed to a combination of a cartridge and a sleeve, with the cartridge for mounting to a stethoscope, and the sleeve for covering the head of the stethoscope. The combination includes: a cartridge having a first elongated circumferential sidewall, with the sidewall defining an interior space; and a sleeve, with at least a part of the sleeve being stored in the interior space. The cartridge and sleeve are constructed and arranged so that the cartridge may be mounted to a stethoscope, and at least a part of the sleeve may be dispensed from the cartridge interior space and over a head of the stethoscope.
A further aspect of the invention is directed to a cartridge for mounting to a stethoscope, and for dispensing a sleeve over a sensing head of the stethoscope. The cartridge includes: a first elongated circumferential sidewall; a second elongated circumferential sidewall inwardly spaced from the first sidewall, with the first and second sidewalls defining between them a first interior space, the first interior space constructed and arranged to contain at least a part of a sleeve; a first end; and a selectively-moveable cover at the first end, with the cover being moveable between an open position and a closed position, thereby allowing a clinician to adjust the access to the first interior space.